The subject matter disclosed herein relates to electronic power devices and, more specifically, to connecting low power electronic devices in series to achieve higher voltage.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Certain applications in the oil and gas, medical imaging, communications, and automation industries, among others, may require high voltage to operate. Some of these applications may use a single high voltage power device included in a motor drive, power factor controller, DC to DC converter, or the like, capable of blocking the desired high voltage. However, the high voltage power device may produce a high instantaneous rate of voltage change (dV/dt) due to the single switch and large amount of voltage applied, which may lead to issues such as electromagnetic interference (EMI). Other applications may utilize several power devices connected in series to block the desired high voltage. Typically, though, the series connected power devices are switched simultaneously, which may also produce a high dV/dt like the single high voltage power device and cause EMI. Further, the series connected power devices may utilize a passive network that inefficiently balances voltage, thereby causing higher loss.